Development of food variety in children.
Eating a variety of foods is essential to achieve adequate coverage of macro- and micronutrient needs. We expose here how eating habits for a variety of foods develop in childhood, from early infancy on. Preferences for specific flavours might develop early, through milk-related flavour exposures. Breastfeeding favours the acquisition of a taste for a variety of foods. At introduction of solid foods, food preferences develop thanks to repeated exposures to a variety of foods. The persistence of these early influences is still unknown. During the third year of life, most children enter a neophobic phase during which previously liked foods are no longer accepted and introduction of new foods becomes difficult. However, habits of eating a variety of foods acquired before the neophobic phase track further on into childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. This underlines the importance of promoting the access to a variety of foods in early childhood. However, beyond the nutritional advantage of eating a varied diet, could this present any drawbacks? Providing a variety of foods generally stimulates food intake and thereby might favour obesity. More research is needed to understand the link between variety and obesity, which might be food-group dependant.
Nicklaus
Sophie
S
INRA, UMR 1129 FLAVIC, 17 rue Sully, BP 86510, F-21000 Dijon, France. nicklaus@dijon.inra.fr
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009765:Obesity; D014675:Vegetables